Wearing article / Uni-charm Corporation

Title: Wearing article.Abstract: A wearing article having a chassis bent in a crotch region. A diaper is folded along an imaginary lateral center line so that front and rear waist regions are in contact with each other and so that front and rear upper end edges in the regions substantially have the same level with each other. In such a folded state, first folds extending in the longitudinal direction are defined in portions of gasket cuffs which are biased toward the front waist region relative to the imaginary lateral center line. The first folds are defined along lateral edges of core of a liquid absorbent structure, and the gasket cuffs being located outboard of the lateral edges are folded along the first folds onto a garment-facing side of an outer sheet. Second folds which extend in the longitudinal direction are formed in containment cuffs. The second folds are lying on a side closer to the front waist region in relation to the imaginary lateral center line, and folded distal ends are expanded and folded to the garment-facing side of the outer sheet. ...

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, disposable diapers in which lateral edges thereof are folded to a longitudinal center line when a plurality of diapers is contained in a package are known. For example, according to PTL 1, both a front waist region and a rear waist region of a chassis are folded such that a dimension in a lateral direction of the diaper becomes small.

SUMMARY

According to the above PTL 1, a constitution in which both the front and rear waist regions are folded is disclosed, but folding in a crotch region is not disclosed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a wearing article in which a chassis is folded in a crotch region.

Solution to Problem

The present invention relates to an improvement of a wearing article having a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction, which includes:

a chassis including a skin-facing side facing the wearer's skin, an opposite side thereof, a first waist region that is one of front and rear waist regions;

a second waist region that is a remainder of the front and rear waist regions; and

a crotch region extending between the first and second waist regions, wherein

the chassis further includes first and second end edges extending in the lateral direction in the first and second waist regions and lateral edges extending in the longitudinal direction; and

the lateral edges of the first and second waist regions are joined to each other such that a waist opening is defined in the first and second end edges and such that a pair of leg openings is defined in the lateral edges of the crotch region.

In the wearing article, the features of the present invention reside in that: the lateral edges are folded to the opposite side of the chassis along first folds extending in the longitudinal direction; and the first folds are at least in the crotch region and at a side closer to the first waist region in relation to an imaginary lateral center line that bisects a dimension in the longitudinal direction from the first end edge to the second end edge. According to the embodiment of the present invention, it is to be noted that the first folds are not formed on a side closer to the second waist region in the crotch region.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the wearing article further includes a liquid absorbent structure extending from the crotch region to the first and second waist regions on the skin-facing side of the chassis, wherein the liquid absorbent structure includes a liquid absorbent core and a coating sheet to cover the core, and the first folds are defined along the lateral edges of the core.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, waist elastic elements are contractibly attached to the first waist region in a stretched state in the lateral direction, and the waist elastic elements are overlapped with at least the lateral edges of the core.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, a pair of gasket cuffs is formed outboard of the liquid absorbent structure in the lateral direction, and gasket elastic elements are contractibly attached to the gasket cuffs in the longitudinal direction.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, the waist elastic elements and the gasket elastic elements are intersected with each other in the first waist region.

According to further another embodiment of the present invention, the liquid absorbent structure includes an upper surface facing the wearer\'s body and a bottom surface opposite thereto. Elasticized containment cuffs are contractibly attached to the upper surface in a stretched state in the longitudinal direction. Each of the containment cuffs includes a proximal edge continuous to the upper surface and a distal edge which is capable of being spaced apart from the upper surface. The distal edge is folded onto the opposite side of the chassis along the second folds extending in the longitudinal direction.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, in particular, one or more embodiments thereof, the lateral edges of the chassis are folded to the opposite side to the skin-facing side along each of the first folds that is located at least in the crotch region and also located at the side closer to the first waist region in relation to an imaginary lateral center line bisecting a dimension in the longitudinal direction. Accordingly, when putting on the wearing article, the lateral edges are not extended into leg openings so as to cause the opening area smaller, and legs may be easily passed through, hence it is easy to wear. Moreover, since the first folds are defined only on the side closer to the first waist region in the crotch region, it is easy to distinguish the side of the first waist region.

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20121025|20120271269|wearing article|A wearing article having a chassis bent in a crotch region. A diaper is folded along an imaginary lateral center line so that front and rear waist regions are in contact with each other and so that front and rear upper end edges in the regions substantially have the same |Uni-charm-Corporation